Key Plot Points
Doctor When Plot Synopsis, V. 3.
Contents
Distillation of Key Plot Points
Part 1
| Point # | Activity | Description |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lecture | Doctor When is about to demonstrate a time machine; it goes haywire |
| 2 | “Jiffy Pop Puzzle” (as much fun to make as it is to solve) | Doctor When is bouncing around in time and needs the players’ help to fix the machine/rescue him |
| 3 | Puzzles/activities | Time machine is fixed |
| 4 | Puzzle or activity | Doctor When’s real goal was to fix his childhood trauma |
| 5 | Puzzle or activity (possibly reassembling and sending the Jiffy Pop puzzle) + watch a video of the revised high school “incident” (the time machine’s window to the past) | With the players’ help he’s fixes the past |
| 6 | Message | Doctor will rematerialize at XX PM, be back in the lab by then.
There was some discussion whether the players should reassemble and send back the Jiffy Pop puzzle at the end of each part, or just part 3. |
Part 2
| Point # | Activity | Description |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lecture | Prof. Chronus is about to demonstrate a time machine; it goes haywire |
| 2 | Puzzles/activities (Jiffy Pop puzzle?) | Prof. Chronus is bouncing around in time and needs the players’ help to fix the machine/rescue him |
| 3 | Puzzles/activities | Time machine is fixed |
| 4 | Puzzle or activity | Prof. Chronus’s real goal was to fix her childhood trauma (which was caused by the fix in Part 1) |
| 5 | Puzzle or activity (Jiffy Pop puzzle?) + watch a video of the revised high school “incident” (the time machine’s window to the past) | With the players’ help she fixes the past (sort of) |
| 6 | Message | Prof. Chronus will rematerialize at XX AM; be back in the lab by then. |
Part 3
| Point # | Activity | Description |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lecture | Doctor When is about to demonstrate a time machine for the very first time (as far as he knows); it goes haywire |
| 2 | “Jiffy Pop Puzzle” (as much fun to make as it is to solve) | Doctor When is once again bouncing around in time because the players’ actions have enabled an infinite time loop. |
| 3 | Puzzles/activities | Time machine is fixed with the players’ amazingly rapid help |
| 4 | Puzzles/activities (possibly sending the players back in time), watch a video of the revised high school incident timeline…and don’t forget the Jiffy Pop puzzle | The players find a new solution to the high school sliming incident that breaks the time loop and hitches the teenage versions of Doctor When and Prof. Chronus. |
| 5 | Lecture | “Never use time travel for petty personal gain.” |
Detailed Description
Part 1 — Introductions
Players arrive to witness unveiling of Doctor When’s crowning achievement: a time machine.
Doctor When gives introductory lecture. Key points include:
- Key components of the machine are the quantum chronomentometer and the tachyon aether pep ring. [Probably now called the "midi ether co-keypad ring"]
- Both must be finely tuned or else their fields will resonate out of control leading to devastation that makes Chernobyl look like a wienie roast. But don’t worry…what could go wrong?
- He’s particularly proud of the chronomentometer—he doesn’t think anyone else in the world could have made one.
- He’s excited to welcome to the lab the visiting Prof. Catherine Chronus, a high-school friend who has gone on to great fame at her own lab on the East Coast. She’ll be helping out with the demonstration.
The demo goes amuck and Doctor When is lost in time.
Players receive a note from the future that gets them going.
Players discover that the tachyon aether pep ring is all screwed up. Working with Kitty, they fix it.
Players discover that what Doctor When was really doing was going back in time to fix his high school science project, “Cold Fusion Of Mentos.” It was actually rigged to display, “Buffy, I love you” when she walked by. But somehow it interacted with his science geek gal pal Kitty’s “Perpetual Motion Of Pepsi” project on the next table. This caused it to explode slime all over Doctor When and embarrass him in front of Buffy (and all the high school cool kids).
He is convinced that if the machine had worked properly, he would have won Buffy’s love. (The players may, of course, doubt that this would work on the cheerleader.)
With the players’ unwitting help he secretly adjusts his younger self’s science project. It doesn’t go as planned. But it does present the young Wesley When with the opportunity to save Buffy from being slimed, which does, against all odds of high school social class structure, win her heart. Unfortunately, in a horrible Rube Goldberg side effect, Kitty gets slimed and laughed at.
Players use time machine to send notes to past selves.
Doctor When returns. Hooray! Lab assistant Rodney takes everyone out for a celebratory dinner.
Part 2 — Again?
Players return…to witness unveiling of Prof. Catherine “Kitty” Chronus’s crowning achievement: a time machine. Prof. Chronus gives introductory lecture. Key points include:
- Key components of the time machine are the quantum chronomentometer and the tachyon aether pep ring .
- Both must be finely tuned or else their fields will resonate out of control leading to devastation that makes Chernobyl look like a wienie roast. But don’t worry…what could go wrong?
- She’s particularly proud of the aether pep ring—she doesn’t think anyone else in the world could have made one.
- She’s excited to welcome to the lab the visiting Doctor When, a high-school friend who has gone on to great fame at his own lab on the East Coast. He’ll be helping out with the demonstration. [Actually, Doctor’s When’s wife, Buffy, is also in the room. She’s aged into an unattractive shrew who argues constantly with Doctor When—so perhaps the players won’t feel so bad that they end up breaking up this marriage.]
The demo goes amuck and Prof. Chronus is lost in time.
Players receive a note from the future that gets them going.
Players discover that the quantum chronomentometer is all screwed up. Working with Doctor When, they fix it.
Players discover that what Prof. Chronus was really doing was going back in time to fix her high school science project, “Perpetual Motion Of Pepsi” It was actually rigged to display, “Wesley When, I love you” when fully activated. But somehow it interacted with Doctor When’s “Cold Fusion Of Mentos” project on the next table. This caused it to explode slime all over Kitty and embarrass her in front of Doctor When.
She is convinced that if the machine had worked properly, she would have won Doctor When’s love. (The players may, of course, doubt that this would work.)
With the players’ unwitting help she secretly adjusts her younger self’s science project. It doesn’t go as planned. In a horrible, Rube Goldberg chain of events, Kitty no longer gets slimed, but Doctor When does just as in the first time stream.
Players use time machine send note to past selves.
Kitty returns. Hooray! Lab assistant Rodney takes the players out to a celebratory breakfast.
Part 3 — Will This Game Ever End?
Players return…to witness unveiling of Doctor When’s crowning achievement: a time machine (again?!?).
Doctor When gives introductory lecture:
- Key components of the time machine are the quantum chronomentometer and the tachyon aether pep ring .
- Both must be finely tuned or else their fields will resonate out of control leading to devastation that makes Chernobyl look like a wienie roast. But don’t worry…what could go wrong?
- He’s particularly proud of the chronomentometer—he doesn’t think anyone else in the world could have made one.
- He’s excited to welcome to the lab the visiting Prof. Catherine Chronus, a high-school friend who has gone on to great fame at her own lab on the East Coast. She’ll be helping out with the demonstration.
The demo goes amuck and Doctor When is lost in time.
Players receive a note from the future that gets them going. This time the notes say something to the effect of “break this time loop or we’ll be at this forever” or perhaps something more cryptic.
Players discover that the tachyon aether pep ring is all screwed up. Working with Kitty, they fix it. Kitty is surprised at how quickly the players solve the problem this time….
Players discover that what Doctor When was really doing was going back in time to fix his high school science project, “Cold Fusion Of Mentos.” It was actually rigged to display, “Buffy, I love you” when she walked by. But somehow it interacted with Kitty’s “Perpetual Motion Of Pepsi” project on the next table. This caused it to explode slime all over Doctor When and embarrass him in front of Buffy (and all the cool kids).
He is convinced that if the machine had worked properly, he would have won Buffy’s love. (The players may, of course, doubt that this would work on the cheerleader.)
The tired and frustrated players go back in time themselves to the science fair hall before the locals arrive.
They solve a series of problems in the past to break the time loop. As a result of their work the Rube Goldberg chain of events now ends up sliming KittyBuffy…and leads the Doctor and Kitty realize they are perfect for each other.
Players return to present and use time machines to send notes to past selves.
Upon returning they discover that there is a new lab assistant in addition to Rodney: A geeked out Buffy!
Doctor When and Prof. Chronus return. Hooray!
Doctor When and Kitty give a wrap up speech. Key points include:
- It is vital that the time travel only be used for noble purposes, not personal gain.
- Only our harmonious collaboration allowed us to create a properly-working time machine.
- And let’s not forget the vital contributions of Buffy. Would you believe it—back in high school she was an airhead cheerleader! (But inexplicably she dumped her airhead friends, took a sudden interest in science, and uncovered her hidden genius.)
- Let’s all go out and celebrating while Kitty shuts down the equipment….
The players get one final message from the future as they leave the game: “Stop the cheerleader, save the world!”
